Sunday, January 1, 2017

Rebirth!

I see that two years ago in Jan 2015 I wished everyone that creative high - the joy of making. Well for 2016 I really needed to wish that for myself. as this past year has been a very slow year creatively speaking. I feel like I am wading though deep mud or snow, with new ideas stuck and I have had to really struggle to get them out.

I will give myself another week to clean up my work space in the basement - it is really cluttered with too many things that need to be thrown out. After that I will start sketching again - it is the best way to generate new ideas - and then hopefully there will be a rebirth of new ideas.

One idea that I plan to pursue is getting impressions from germinating seeds.

Germinating wheat seed impressed in clay

This little tea bag rest (above) embodies a fresh start, a new beginning - it was a serendipidous event! In 2015 I had collected lots of wheat stalks from the Saskatchewan farm where my son and his wife were married. I made a platter with wheat stalk impressions on it as a wedding present. Several days after impressing the clay I noticed that a seed had fallen from a stalk head and was germinating in a little pool of water by the sink where the tap was leaking. I decided to impress it into clay. Once tile was bisqued it was brushed with gosu slip and wiped off and then glazed with Malcolm Davis shino and a little spray of magnesia mat glaze.
It was amazing the details that showed up - even the very fine roots.

I will have to visit the local farm supply store soon as I think that a platter with rows of different seeds germinating - wheat, oats, peas, corn, etc, would make an interesting piece - and with it symbolizing a rebirth of creativity. Happy new year!

Valley Artisans

About Me

In Dec 2009 I renamed my first blog to Centered - Focus on Clay and Creativity - as I have finished my year long journey workshop with Steven Hill. The focus will continue to be on thoughts about my work - about creativity, design and function...................
I have been making pottery off and on for 40 years, exploring many different aspects of ceramics. I named my pottery business after "The Newfoundout" - the secluded valley high in the Opeongo Hills of eastern Ontario where we own an abandoned farm and where in 2007 I built a wood-fired kiln. I normally fire in a gas kiln in Deep River, Ontario, at the Deep River Potters' Guild, but do several wood firings in the summer.
This blog originally documented my year long "journey workshop" with Steven Hill. It was an incredible "journey" which had a profound effect on my work and as was the North Bay mentorship. I highly recommend this type of workshop to anyone who is interested in exploring their work and creativity.